Tools

Titus Andronicus, Ceremony, Coffin Pricks

When: Sun., Nov. 25, 8 p.m. 2012Price: $19

Most of his contemporaries have either taken up keyboards and samplers or gone all-in on a closed-loop approach to rock that relies on raiding the diminishing reserves of as-yet-unrevived retro sounds on record geeks' shelves, but Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus is instead sifting through the wreckage that is rock 'n' roll in the 21st century on a search for the parts that are still capable of speaking directly and unabashedly to the soul. The group's latest LP, Local Business (XL), is like its two predecessors a conglomerate of rock subtypes—mostly classic, alternative, and punk—roughly cobbled together and hot-wired by Stickles's apparently earnest belief in the Springsteenian ideal of transcendence and spiritual communion through the proper application of amplified guitar. He seems to be aiming at nothing less than instilling in his listeners a faith not only in rock 'n' roll but also in things greater than themselves. Considering the amount of cynicism that's accumulated on the pop landscape, that's a steep uphill battle, but one worth fighting. —Miles Raymer Ceremony opens.